J. Robert Harris Biography

James Robert "Bob" Harris, the son of James C. and Sylvia Harris, was born May 29, 1918, near Carterville, Ill. He attended both grade and high school at Carterville. In 1938, Bob enrolled in general agriculture, with emphasis on agricultural economics and agricultural education. He worked his way through college except for a loan which he immediately repaid upon graduation.

As an undergraduate, Bob was active in the University YMCA, Agricultural Economics Club, Cooperative League, and Alpha Tau Alpha. He enjoyed singing and sang in the Varsity Men's Glee Club and University Place Christian Church Choir. He received his B.S. degree in June 1942 and then continued as a graduate student in agricultural economics. He worked as an assistant in farm management doing research in farm cost accounting until 1946.

From May 1946 to May 1948, Bo was Manager, Men's Residence Halls at the University of Illinois. Then, in May 1948, he became Rodent Control Specialist, US Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. This was a temporary project; so later in 1948 he became Marketing Specialist with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. IN 1960, he became Director, Marketing Division, Iowa Department of Agriculture. He was State Field Superintendent, Iowa Department of Agriculture from 1965-66, when he took the position of Director, Agriculture Services Division, and later Statistician with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture. HE worked as an insurance underwriter for a short time prior to returning to Illinois to live. He was in labor market analysis with the Illinois Department of Employment Security from 1973-74, when he became Southern Region WIC Field Supervisor for the Illinois Department of Health. He retired in 1981.

Bob was strongly loyal to Nabor House from the time he became a member until his death in 1983. With his eyesight not meeting the military's requirements, Bob remained on campus during WWII as a graduate student. He almost single-handedly kept Nabor House alive during the war period. Had he not been on the campus and willing to look after the Fraternity's interests, Nabor House almost certainly would not exist today. During the war, Bob worked with the bank to keep the house loan viable, arranged for rental of the property, raised money -- mostly loans from Nabors in the military--served as a contact point for Nabors all over the world, and wrote and published the newsletter. Through the newsletter, Nabors everywhere kept abreast of where other Nabors were and their welfare. He is also to be credited with bringing the Fraternity back to life as the veterans returned to campus after the war. Bob did it all during that trying period and for that, Nabor House Fraternity is forever grateful.

On June 3, 1951, Bob married Ella Anne Loy. They had a son, William Robert. Ella passed away May 31, 1966. He then married Mrs. Juanita Cox Ramsey on Dec. 15, 1973. A devoted family and church man to the end, Bob died of cancer on Oct. 3, 1983.